Video: Women helping fuel economic comeback

Closed captioning of: Women helping fuel economic comeback

>>>we're covering
america at a crossroads
here this week. and tonight the landmark that has happened slowly. just as there are now more
women
in college than men,
women
now make up most of the managerial and professional jobs.
kate snow
tonight has our look at this change at the office and in
american life
.

>>have a good day at the office.

>> reporter: in hindsight, it's not hard to see.

>>clients would rather deal with men when it comes to figures.

>>oh, now we're getting it.

>> reporter: in film as in
real life
, the role of the american working woman has undergone an
extreme makeover
.

>>your incompetence do not interest me.

>>take advertising, if you make the right move --

>> reporter: the days of mad men are long gone.

>>everyone's perspective is valued in the company.

>> reporter: at a training session for new employees in new york, you can't help but notice all the estrogen in the room.

>>have a seat.

>> reporter: she has never felt held back by her gender. ten years ago she got excited about a new frontier in advertising. now she oversees daj tdigital projects.

>>there was never a point in time where i thought i could never do this.

>> reporter: women
are now the backbone of the economy. about 60% of them work making up half the workforce and moving into
middle management
. 75% of the
women
say they make the shopping decisions so they're the consumers too. and 40% of working
women
are the primary bread winners for their family.

>>maybe growing up in a different generation. it doesn't bother me.

>> reporter: it makes sense. you don't need
rosie the riveter
muscles to land a job in
brain power
. in fact females hold the majority of the positions in the five fields expected to grow the most in the next decade. it's changing the bottom line today.
david ross
did a comprehensive study of over 2,000 of the largest u.s. companies. companies performed significantly better when they had
women
in the management ranks than when they did not.

>>on average,
women
may approach management in a more democratic, less dictatorial, more collaborative manner than men. in certain kinds of tasks, that can have a significant impact.

>> reporter: the top tiers of the
hotel industry
used to be a men's club but here almost half of the managers are
women
, thanks in part to a mentoring program founded by the
female president
nearly 15 years ago. the president says it makes a difference in the culture of the organization. in the '90s she was nicknamed the terminator, felt she had to manage like a man. no more.

>>i could be as tough as a man and at the same time show compassion and create an inclusive work environment.

>> reporter: it's why
business schools
are teaching about empathetic leadership. it's why norway has mandated that corporate boards be 40% female. of course for
women
in america it's not all rosie. a new projection shows
women
won't make the same salaries as men until the year
2056
. still, things are changing. she seize a clear path for her 5-year-old daughter.

>>my mother was a full-time pediatrician. i'm a full-time working mom. i have no doubt that she will be pr brilliant in whatever she does and that she will be a working woman.

>> reporter: and eventually all those little girls who grow up to work in a more equitable job environment will tip the scales even further, joining the generations of
women
who are already an engine for this new economy.
kate snow
, nbc news, new york.